I started in 2022 using just Python and Django. And I was determined to keep learning these tools and also learning other ones. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed because there are many tools I want to learn. But my priorities were to start learning Rust and Go and contribute to open-source projects.
Learning Go and Rust was a challenge, especially the latter. I felt curious enough to keep going, and I'm glad I did it because it was so much fun when I started to build projects with them.
This experience triggered my curiosity even more and I started to feel a hunger for learning more about these tools. Unfortunately, I don't have a job, and sometimes I feel blocked and I don't know what to build to keep learning. So, I was suggested to contribute to open source.
At first, I thought there was no way I may contribute to open-source projects. I mean, I don't have any professional experience as a developer, I'm unqualified. Also, I had the idea that the only way to contribute was through the code base, and I felt overwhelmed every time I tried to approach the code base of any project.
But I continue reading about open-source contributions, and I felt more confident. And started fixing typos, writing documentation, writing articles about open source projects I found interesting and I use, and translating documentation into my native language, Spanish.
I count it as an achievement to continue blogging. It is really hard, especially building the habit to write, it takes discipline, and commitment. What helps me to write every day was writing an article about a tool I'm learning, it could be anything, a programming language, a framework, etc.
2022 was a year with doubts about myself, questioning if software development was for me, a classic symptom of impostor syndrome. I had fewer doubts when I stop comparing myself with people who clearly have years of experience, years making mistakes and learning from them. So, patience and resilience were something I achieved too.
Conclusion
I think it was really positive for me to reflect on what I achieved in 2022, which gave me more consciousness about where I am and where I want to go. Yes, I had goals that I could not reach, but I have to be grateful and celebrate every step I made to get me closer to achieving these goals.
Thank you for reading this article. And Happy New Year.